[[aop-targetsource]]
= Using `TargetSource` Implementations

Spring offers the concept of a `TargetSource`, expressed in the
`org.springframework.aop.TargetSource` interface. This interface is responsible for
returning the "`target object`" that implements the join point. The `TargetSource`
implementation is asked for a target instance each time the AOP proxy handles a method
invocation.

Developers who use Spring AOP do not normally need to work directly with `TargetSource` implementations, but
this provides a powerful means of supporting pooling, hot swappable, and other
sophisticated targets. For example, a pooling `TargetSource` can return a different target
instance for each invocation, by using a pool to manage instances.

If you do not specify a `TargetSource`, a default implementation is used to wrap a
local object. The same target is returned for each invocation (as you would expect).

The rest of this section describes the standard target sources provided with Spring and how you can use them.

TIP: When using a custom target source, your target will usually need to be a prototype
rather than a singleton bean definition. This allows Spring to create a new target
instance when required.



[[aop-ts-swap]]
== Hot-swappable Target Sources

The `org.springframework.aop.target.HotSwappableTargetSource` exists to let the target
of an AOP proxy be switched while letting callers keep their references to it.

Changing the target source's target takes effect immediately. The
`HotSwappableTargetSource` is thread-safe.

You can change the target by using the `swap()` method on HotSwappableTargetSource, as the follow example shows:

[tabs]
======
Java::
+
[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes",role="primary"]
----
	HotSwappableTargetSource swapper = (HotSwappableTargetSource) beanFactory.getBean("swapper");
	Object oldTarget = swapper.swap(newTarget);
----

Kotlin::
+
[source,kotlin,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes",role="secondary"]
----
	val swapper = beanFactory.getBean("swapper") as HotSwappableTargetSource
	val oldTarget = swapper.swap(newTarget)
----
======

The following example shows the required XML definitions:

[source,xml,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="initialTarget" class="mycompany.OldTarget"/>

	<bean id="swapper" class="org.springframework.aop.target.HotSwappableTargetSource">
		<constructor-arg ref="initialTarget"/>
	</bean>

	<bean id="swappable" class="org.springframework.aop.framework.ProxyFactoryBean">
		<property name="targetSource" ref="swapper"/>
	</bean>
----

The preceding `swap()` call changes the target of the swappable bean. Clients that hold a
reference to that bean are unaware of the change but immediately start hitting
the new target.

Although this example does not add any advice (it is not necessary to add advice to
use a `TargetSource`), any `TargetSource` can be used in conjunction with
arbitrary advice.



[[aop-ts-pool]]
== Pooling Target Sources

Using a pooling target source provides a similar programming model to stateless session
EJBs, in which a pool of identical instances is maintained, with method invocations
going to free objects in the pool.

A crucial difference between Spring pooling and SLSB pooling is that Spring pooling can
be applied to any POJO. As with Spring in general, this service can be applied in a
non-invasive way.

Spring provides support for Commons Pool 2.2, which provides a
fairly efficient pooling implementation. You need the `commons-pool` Jar on your
application's classpath to use this feature. You can also subclass
`org.springframework.aop.target.AbstractPoolingTargetSource` to support any other
pooling API.

NOTE: Commons Pool 1.5+ is also supported but is deprecated as of Spring Framework 4.2.

The following listing shows an example configuration:

[source,xml,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="businessObjectTarget" class="com.mycompany.MyBusinessObject"
			scope="prototype">
		... properties omitted
	</bean>

	<bean id="poolTargetSource" class="org.springframework.aop.target.CommonsPool2TargetSource">
		<property name="targetBeanName" value="businessObjectTarget"/>
		<property name="maxSize" value="25"/>
	</bean>

	<bean id="businessObject" class="org.springframework.aop.framework.ProxyFactoryBean">
		<property name="targetSource" ref="poolTargetSource"/>
		<property name="interceptorNames" value="myInterceptor"/>
	</bean>
----

Note that the target object (`businessObjectTarget` in the preceding example) must be a
prototype. This lets the `PoolingTargetSource` implementation create new instances
of the target to grow the pool as necessary. See the {spring-framework-api}/aop/target/AbstractPoolingTargetSource.html[javadoc of
`AbstractPoolingTargetSource`] and the concrete subclass you wish to use for information
about its properties. `maxSize` is the most basic and is always guaranteed to be present.

In this case, `myInterceptor` is the name of an interceptor that would need to be
defined in the same IoC context. However, you need not specify interceptors to
use pooling. If you want only pooling and no other advice, do not set the
`interceptorNames` property at all.

You can configure Spring to be able to cast any pooled object to the
`org.springframework.aop.target.PoolingConfig` interface, which exposes information
about the configuration and current size of the pool through an introduction. You
need to define an advisor similar to the following:

[source,xml,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="poolConfigAdvisor" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.MethodInvokingFactoryBean">
		<property name="targetObject" ref="poolTargetSource"/>
		<property name="targetMethod" value="getPoolingConfigMixin"/>
	</bean>
----

This advisor is obtained by calling a convenience method on the
`AbstractPoolingTargetSource` class, hence the use of `MethodInvokingFactoryBean`. This
advisor's name (`poolConfigAdvisor`, here) must be in the list of interceptors names in
the `ProxyFactoryBean` that exposes the pooled object.

The cast is defined as follows:

[tabs]
======
Java::
+
[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes",role="primary"]
----
	PoolingConfig conf = (PoolingConfig) beanFactory.getBean("businessObject");
	System.out.println("Max pool size is " + conf.getMaxSize());
----

Kotlin::
+
[source,kotlin,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes",role="secondary"]
----
	val conf = beanFactory.getBean("businessObject") as PoolingConfig
	println("Max pool size is " + conf.maxSize)
----
======

NOTE: Pooling stateless service objects is not usually necessary. We do not believe it should
be the default choice, as most stateless objects are naturally thread-safe, and instance
pooling is problematic if resources are cached.

Simpler pooling is available by using auto-proxying. You can set the `TargetSource` implementations
used by any auto-proxy creator.



[[aop-ts-prototype]]
== Prototype Target Sources

Setting up a "`prototype`" target source is similar to setting up a pooling `TargetSource`. In this
case, a new instance of the target is created on every method invocation. Although
the cost of creating a new object is not high in a modern JVM, the cost of wiring up the
new object (satisfying its IoC dependencies) may be more expensive. Thus, you should not
use this approach without very good reason.

To do this, you could modify the `poolTargetSource` definition shown earlier as follows
(we also changed the name, for clarity):

[source,xml,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="prototypeTargetSource" class="org.springframework.aop.target.PrototypeTargetSource">
		<property name="targetBeanName" ref="businessObjectTarget"/>
	</bean>
----

The only property is the name of the target bean. Inheritance is used in the
`TargetSource` implementations to ensure consistent naming. As with the pooling target
source, the target bean must be a prototype bean definition.



[[aop-ts-threadlocal]]
== `ThreadLocal` Target Sources

`ThreadLocal` target sources are useful if you need an object to be created for each
incoming request (per thread that is). The concept of a `ThreadLocal` provides a JDK-wide
facility to transparently store a resource alongside a thread. Setting up a
`ThreadLocalTargetSource` is pretty much the same as was explained for the other types
of target source, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="threadlocalTargetSource" class="org.springframework.aop.target.ThreadLocalTargetSource">
		<property name="targetBeanName" value="businessObjectTarget"/>
	</bean>
----

NOTE: `ThreadLocal` instances come with serious issues (potentially resulting in memory leaks) when
incorrectly using them in multi-threaded and multi-classloader environments. You
should always consider wrapping a `ThreadLocal` in some other class and never directly use
the `ThreadLocal` itself (except in the wrapper class). Also, you should
always remember to correctly set and unset (where the latter involves a call to
`ThreadLocal.remove()`) the resource local to the thread. Unsetting should be done in
any case, since not unsetting it might result in problematic behavior. Spring's
`ThreadLocal` support does this for you and should always be considered in favor of using
`ThreadLocal` instances without other proper handling code.




